News

Feb 16, 2021 - 450,000 families ‘behind on rent because of Covid’

Almost half a million UK families are thought to have fallen behind on rent, as a result of the coronavirus crisis, according to the Resolution Foundation.

It said more than 750,000 had been behind on housing costs last month.

That is 450,000 more than January 2020.

"Despite widespread calls for forbearance in the face of the Covid-19 shock, just 3% of private renting families have been able to negotiate a lower rent over the last 10 months," the think tank said in a report.

Meanwhile, one in 20 private renters in the UK said they had been refused rent reductions.

Many had taken "huge hits" to...

Feb 16, 2021 - Parents urged not to miss out on new Scottish Child Payment

Parents are being urged to apply for a new child benefit or face missing out on payments.

The Scottish government said it had received 77,000 applications so far, but 173,000 children are estimated to be eligible.

The £10-a-week Scottish Child Payment is available for each child under six in qualifying families. However, families who fail to apply by 15 February will miss out on some of their entitlement.

You may be able to get Scottish Child Payment if all of the following apply:

  • you live in Scotland
  • you or your partner are getting certain benefits or payments
  • you or your partner...

Feb 15, 2021 - Pound hits three-year high on vaccination hopes

The pound has hit its highest level against the dollar in nearly three years, amid rising optimism about an end to lockdown in the UK.

It surpassed $1.39 on Monday, while also hitting a nine-month high against the euro at €1.147.

More than 15 million people have now had their first Covid jab, raising hopes that restrictions can soon be eased, and the economy start to recover.

Boris Johnson will set out his plan for exiting England's lockdown next Monday.

Chris Turner, global head of markets at ING, said: "[The pound] continues to reap the dividends of a successful vaccine rollout and momentum ...

Feb 15, 2021 - Indefinite leave to remain can be revoked, but not cancelled

We get it: immigration law is tricky. The relevant case is - C1 v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWHC 242 (Admin).

The gist of the decision is that the Home Office has no power to cancel indefinite leave to remain (ILR) under Article 13 of the Immigration (Leave to Enter & Remain) Order 2000. 

Background

The claimant, C1, was granted ILR in July 2017 and travelled to Iran in November 2018. Shortly afterwards, the Home Secretary cancelled his ILR and made a decision to exclude him from the UK. C1 re-entered the UK last April by crossing the Channel on a small vessel. He was s...

Feb 15, 2021 - Post-Brexit trade: Half of UK exporters to EU are having Brexit difficulties

More than a month after the UK's post-Brexit trade deal with the EU came into force, complaints from British importers and exporters continue to mount.

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said that 49% of UK-based exporters in a survey of 470 firms had suffered problems with post-Brexit arrangements since the start of the year, as companies struggled to adapt and faced higher costs due to extra border checks and paperwork.

Little more than a month into the UK’s new relationship with Brussels, the leading business lobby group warned that urgent action from both the British government and the...

Feb 15, 2021 - Travel bans, red lists and quarantines: how do they affect UK visa applicants?

With travel bans from so-called “red list” countries, the suspension of travel corridors and today’s long-awaited introduction of compulsory hotel quarantine, those already holding or who have applied for UK visas will be concerned about how these measures may affect their visas and ability to travel to the UK.

Continuing the government’s favoured “Australian-style” theme for any border policy, the Health Secretary, announcing the new restrictions on 9 February 2021, said that the government had “been taking advice from our Australian colleagues… on quarantine”. And so it is that we now have “

Feb 15, 2021 - Help to Buy deadline extended amid Covid delays

A deadline to buy a home under the current Help to Buy scheme in England has been extended to the end of May.

Covid-related delays meant more than 16,000 sales were at risk, with buyers facing large bills were purchases to fall through at the last minute.

Construction of newly-built homes, which qualify for the scheme, have been put back by as much as eight months.

Some buyers are worried that the new, two-month extended deadline will still come too soon.

In seven years, the Help to Buy equity loan scheme has allowed 278,000 households to receive an advance from the government to help pay the ...

Feb 12, 2021 - UK economy suffered record annual slump in 2020

The UK economy shrank by a record 9.9% last year as coronavirus restrictions hit output, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) says.

The contraction in 2020 "was more than twice as much as the previous largest annual fall on record," said ONS deputy national statistician Jonathan Athow.

In December, the economy grew by 1.2%, after shrinking by 2.3% in November, as some restrictions eased.

Hospitality, car sales and hairdressers recovered some lost ground.

Last month's growth means the UK economy looks set to avoid what could have been its first double-dip recession since the 1970s.

A double...

Feb 11, 2021 - Coronavirus and the UK immigration system (as of 11 February 2021)

People stuck outside the UK

On 11 January 2021, the Home Office published a Covid Visa Concession Scheme. It is designed to help people who had permission to live in the UK but whose permission expired while they were stuck abroad due to coronavirus travel restrictions, leaving them unable to return. Provided they meet the eligibility criteria in the guidance, such people will be granted entry clearance valid for three months to allow them to travel back to the UK and apply properly to extend their stay. But the scheme is aimed at people who left the UK before 17 March 2020 (the date the Forei...

Feb 11, 2021 - Will the stamp duty holiday be extended?

With less than seven weeks until the stamp duty holiday is due to end, consumers in the process of buying a new home may miss out on the tax-reduction and instead find themselves paying out thousands of pounds more than they expected on completion.

Many buyers are keen to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday which is due to end on 31 March.

In July, the government suspended stamp duty on the first £500,000 of all property sales in England and Northern Ireland to help boost the market, until 31 March 2021. In Scotland, where the equivalent levy is called the Land and Buildings Transaction T...

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